1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a saxony carpet exhibiting improved bulk and appearance retention. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a saxony carpet including pile yarn formed from a blend of nylon fibers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the art of carpet manufacture that various fiber blends can be useful for carpet pile yarns, including pile yarns for saxony carpet. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,211, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, discloses a saxony carpet with pile yarn formed from a blend of carpet fibers and high shrinkage acrylic fibers. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,713 discloses a saxony carpet having pile formed from a blend of low shrinkage polyester fibers and high shrinkage polyester fibers. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,701 discloses a mixed filament textile yarn of polyester filaments and nylon filaments.
Each of these blends is asserted to impart certain specified desirable characteristics to the subject carpet including, for example, improved appearance retention, bulk, firmness and luster. Unfortunately, the very existence of diverse types of fibers in fiber blends gives rise to drawbacks in the blends and their end-use products. For example, processing of the blends into yarn may require specific controls or operating conditions such as those disclosed at column 4, line 35 of the '211 patent discussed above. Further, blends which include fibers of different polymer types may present difficult dyeing and processing challenges due to the natures of the different polymers.
A need therefore exists for a fiber blend for carpet pile yarn which provides desirable performance characteristics but which is easily processable into a uniform final product.